Envisioning Variations in Complexity among Complex Hunter-Gatherers

Studies of hunter-gatherer complexity—including the chapters in this volume—invariably contrast complexity with simplicity. Attempts to define and analyze hunter-gatherer complexity make assumptions that humans live in a rigid social world where one is either simple or complex, but not both. This chapter explores the notion that complexity is best understood as a continuous variable within historically situational contexts. Using the Poverty Point site and the contemporary culture of the same name, the chapter advocates against a fixed typology of complexity and simplicity instead suggesting that we should emphasize instead models of social fluidity, where individuals move among and between social statuses and identities. Religious knowledge is perhaps one of the most important ways individuals can move between simple political identities and ones we more commonly associate with complexity.